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How To Write Dialogue
How To Write Dialogue
How To Write Dialogue
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SCRIPTWRITING
very screenwriter wants to write quippy, smart dialogue that makes the
E
page sparkle and keeps the actors inspired. But how do you do it?
There are dozens, if not hundreds, of lists and guides that provide useful tips
for how to write dialogue in a story. In this post, we’ll look at dialogue writing
examples, examine a few tried-and-true methods for how to write good
dialogue, and provide you with all the best dialogue writing tips.
He knows who his characters are and what they want, and the characters’
desires shape his dialogue writing.
Tarantino on set
As the old adage goes, learning the rules in order to break them can make you a
stronger writer – and in this case, we want to look at some of the best writing
dialogue rules.
Writing from a structure can help make sure you don’t lose the thread of your
story by getting too caught up in crafting clever, flashy dialogue that doesn’t
connect to anything.
And, a good structure can provide the perimeters for your writing to flow
within, so you don’t have to pause to remember fifteen different rules of how to
do dialogue!
After building out the other elements of your story (your arcs, acts, scenes, and
story beats) you will have a better sense of how each scene connects to the
larger unfolding of the story and, most importantly, what each character wants
in a given scene.
You may not need a “how to write good dialogue format” if you always keep in
mind your larger story arc, how each scene drives the story forward, and what
character motivations are in every scene.
The function of dialogue can be broken down into three purposes: exposition,
characterization, or action. If we’re always clear on the larger purpose of a
scene and we know each character’s motivations, we know what our dialogue is
“doing” in that scene.
When we know what a character wants, we don’t have to worry as much about
how to write dialogue because the motivations of the characters drive what
they say. See our post on story beats to dig into story beats, which help
illuminate what each character wants, and when they want it.
FUNCTIONS OF DIALOGUE
The famous diner scene from Nora Ephron’s When Harry Met Sally is an
excellent example of both exposition and characterization, critical components
of how to write dialogue between two characters. Here's a breakdown we did of
the iconic When Harry Met Sally screenplay.
The ongoing question of the film, and of Harry and Sally’s relationship, is
whether heterosexual women and heterosexual men can really be platonic
friends. Every other character in the film and their issues (the friend in an
affair with a married man, the friends who are in a happy couple and getting
married) all support the driving dilemma of the film: the desire to partner and
escape the presumed suffering of dating.
Underneath this question of whether men and women can be friends is the
subtext that they may ultimately end up together after all. The overriding
question of the film is, after knowing each other, “how come they haven’t
already?” The diner scene teases out the idea of sexual tension in a supposedly
platonic friendship, raising the stakes.
Remember, though the scene depicts Harry and Sally having a conversation in
a diner, the words they are speaking are not mere “conversation” – it is
dialogue written to sound like a natural conversation. There is a difference.
Each word in Ephron’s dialogue writing has a purpose. Sally says she is upset
about how Harry treats the women he dates and that she’s glad she never dated
him (underscoring the ongoing conflict of the film).
This prompts her to fake an orgasm right there in the diner to make her point
(ratcheting up the primary conflict, while also providing some comic relief).
You can read the scene, which we imported into StudioBinder’s screenwriting
software, below:
This scene works so well because it serves a crystal clear purpose in driving the
story forward.
Great dialogue writing examples always drive the plot from one scene to the
next. You may not like plotting out your story beats, thinking about story arcs
in a methodological way, or approaching how to write dialogue between two
characters systematically at all.
The Dinner Scene — How to Direct Dinner & Dialogue [Director's Playbook]
— David Mamet
This handy motto is one of the best dialogue writing tips, if not the only one
you need. This principle encapsulates what many other rules of dialogue
writing are getting at. What they want also may not be spoken aloud, which is
where writing internal dialogue comes in handy.
The advice to use as few words as possible, to cut the fat, to arrive late and
leave early, to write with subtext in mind, to show rather than tell – all of those
goals can be met by keeping the focus on what the characters want.
If they don’t want anything, they don’t need to say anything. If you have a clear
idea of who your characters are, and what the function of each scene is in the
story, then your characters' agendas, conflicts, and obstacles, and their manner
of speaking to express themselves, can come forward more naturally.
If you know what your characters want, you may find that you know how to
write dialogue in a story very naturally!
And yet, there is a caveat here: Screenwriter Karl Iglesias warns that it can be
easy to have the character saying what you, the writer, want, not what they, the
character, want.
Below is a playlist from our 4 Endings video series where we look at how
"wants and needs" play out in a screenplay.
How to Write a Screenplay that's a Crowd-Pleaser — Back to the Future & the Flat Character Arc
Because what you, the writer, want them to do is of course to carry some part
of the story for you. So another important tool to put in your toolbox of
dialogue writing tips is to always zoom in on the character, and stay tuned into
what they want at any given point in the story.
Check out the last scene from Mamet’s Glengarry Glen Ross, a film based on
the screenplay, also by Mamet, and a gold standard of excellent movie
dialogue.
Mamet’s principle that each character has to show what they want is
demonstrated brilliantly in the final scene. At the beginning of the film,
everyone at a New York City real estate office learns all but the top two
salesmen will be fired in two weeks.
Levene (Jack Lemmon) is a salesman who wants to keep his job and survive. In
the final scene, Williamson (Kevin Spacey) accuses Levene of stealing leads
from the office. By this final scene, what Levene wants has shifted. Now he
wants to convince Williamson of his innocence.
Take a look:
You want to cast a harsh light on your text in order to whittle down everything
you’ve written. Make sure every last word really needs to be there. You want to
yank anything that gets in the way of telling the great story you want to tell.
That way, the lines will be focused, compelling, and inspire great actors to want
to bring them to life.
Remember: We’re not yanking lines if they’re not sparkly or punchy enough,
we’re yanking them if they don’t serve a purpose.
Even the cutest remark can actually be clutter, and even the more mundane
lines can play a vital role by elucidating our character’s motives, the conflict
they’ve encountered, and where the story is going next. The more dialogue
writing examples you read, the more you’ll see how the characters’ motivations
are driving not only what is said, but how it is said.
R E L AT E D P O S T S
Another approach for how to write great dialogue in a script is to read through
every line of the script aloud to make sure it flows naturally.
You could also try putting your hand or a piece of paper of the names of the
characters. Can you tell who is saying what?
Another tip for how to properly write dialogue is to scan your script for
“dialogue dumps.” The best way to avoid “As you know, Bob…” information
dumps in your dialogue is to let the characters bat pieces of information back
and forth. Check out our video on exposition below:
Let them reveal bits of it over time, scattered throughout a scene like
breadcrumbs. Let them argue about it, challenge what each other knows. Do
they already know it, or are they wrestling with it?
Assess your dialogue to make sure what you’re trying to accomplish with a line
of dialogue couldn’t better be said with an action, an adjustment to scene or
setting, a facial expression, or some other nonverbal detail.
The “Good to See Another Brother” scene from Get Out is a great example of
keeping the dialogue minimal and letting facial expression, costume, and tone
convey the information:
At this point in the story, Chris still thinks he is simply one of the few black
people in his white girlfriend’s upper middle class white family and their social
circle.
We, the audience, still might think we’re watching a rom com that conveys only
a mild awareness of race, somewhere off in the background of the story. But in
this scene, race starts moving forward as a central plot point.
Throughout the film, Peele exemplifies how spreading information out like
bread crumbs can help build tension and curiosity about a scene.
Look at how much room Peele leaves in the script to describe how Andre’s
character should convey his response (“soft-spoken,” “no trace of an urban
dialect”). This helps load every word in the scene with more weight and
purpose. When Andre does speak, his words are few.
He has visibly changed his style and manner of speaking since Chris first saw
him, he won’t say much, and has a glazed over expression on his face. All of this
raises the stakes: What is going on here?
In order to learn how to write dialogue, one of the most important writing
dialogue rules is to stay in touch with where your characters are in the story at
all times.
Building your story, your character arcs, and your story beats before writing
can help provide a structure that will give your writing a container in which to
flow. Developing compelling characters and making sure that every bit of
dialogue real estate on the page is devoted to serving a function in your
screenplay can help streamline the whole dialogue writing process.
But regardless of which method you use, if anything, just remember the Mamet
Motto: “Nobody says anything unless they want something.”
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Tags: Get Out, Glengarry Glen Ross, Jordan Peele, Literary Devices, Literary Elements,
Literary Techniques, Quentin Tarantino, Screenwriting, When Harry Met Sally
Kela Parker
Kela Parker is a musician and writer based in Los Angeles whose distinct voice can be
found in everything from her unusual blend of Americana, indie jazz, and pop, to articles
on music and film.
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